The accused was charged with kidnapping and sexual assault of a mentally disabled woman.
At trial, the Crown did not call the complainant to testify, instead relying on expert evidence to establish her incompetence and seeking to admit her out-of-court statements under the principled approach to hearsay.
The trial judge admitted the statements and convicted the accused of kidnapping and assault causing bodily harm.
The Court of Appeal quashed the assault conviction and ordered a new trial.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the Crown's appeal, holding that the expert evidence was improperly admitted as testimonial competence is within the trial judge's expertise, and that necessity for admitting hearsay was not established since the complainant was available and there was no evidence that testifying would cause her trauma.
